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MOHAI exhibit examines Lincoln legacy, and visitors log their views
Seattle Times staff reporter
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A new exhibit at the Museum of History & Industry asks whether America has lived up to the ideals of Abraham Lincoln. Kennedy High School English as a Foreign Language students answer that question directly in a part of the exhibit which encourages individuals to express their opinions.
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Post-it notes bear answers to a question at the exhibit "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War."
On exhibit
Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. first Thursdays now through April 20, Museum of History & Industry, 2700 24th Ave. E., Seattle; $5 ages 5-17 and 62 and over, $7 adults, free first Thursdays (206-324-1126 or www.seattlehistory.org).
Tip for visitors: Don't miss the smaller exhibit within the exhibit: "Blue vs. Gray: The Civil War in the Pacific Northwest." Curated by MOHAI historian Lorraine McConaghy, it brings home how the issues of slavery, secession and suppression of civil liberties played out here.
The overarching question
At the end of the exhibit "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War," now on view at the Museum of History & Industry, visitors find a wall panel that asks: "Do you think America has lived up to the ideals Lincoln fought for — equality, freedom, democracy?" Adults and children have written their answers on Post-it notes and attached them to the wall. Here are some of the responses:"No. There is still racism. People are still discriminated against because of their skin. Someday ... "
"Everyday, Americans try to live up to its ideals. Let us raise the bar high. Let us learn from Lincoln."
"I think we are trying and maybe that is all we can expect."
"Corporate America is the new slavery."
"Better than anywhere else."
"What are we going to do about it?"
"Our country is now an aristocracy ruled by the wealthy for their control of resources."
"No!! Not at all!! People still diss me for me being Russian."
"The ideals is for mankind, not only for Americans. America is the nation which has lived up to the ideals closest."
"He started us along the right path — but it's up to us to fight daily against racism, sexism, etc."
"It's an ongoing question that officials like Bush and Cheney jeopardize. Pay attention."
"Not yet."
"We are working on it."
"Heck no."
"We are almost there! People sometimes still judge on race."
"None are free if some are oppressed."
"Was that really the reason for the war?"
"I think yes and I like it."
"Yes. And it is good enough for me."
"No. We have come a long way, but we need to have more love in our hearts for all people."
"Feeding our burning desire to be better as a people is what makes Americans exceptional and worthy of respect and admiration."
"No. Blatant discrimination against Muslims is just as a big a problem."
"Yes! We have a friend at church that is black! And he is free!"
"No. Money running politics is totally contrary to the idea of democracy. We have big money controlling sources of information to an intolerable degree today."
Over the past year, particularly the last two months, voters have been comparing, critiquing and deconstructing the 2008 presidential candidates, trying to determine whether they would make sound judgments when in office.
It's not easy to decide upon a presidential candidate because being president is not easy.
Perhaps no past president understood this more than Abraham Lincoln, guiding the country at a time it was at its most vulnerable — an epic epoch of secession, slavery and civil war. Holding courageous to his conviction that the United States needed to remain united, Lincoln emerged from the constitutional crises he confronted to be considered one of America's greatest statesmen.
To carry out his agenda, though, Lincoln extended his war powers and stretched the Constitution, sacrificing civil liberties in the process. He suspended the right that protects citizens against arbitrary arrest (habeas corpus), and he jailed journalists and politicians who sympathized with the rebels.
How did Lincoln justify those expediencies? And was he correct in his actions?
An exhibit at Seattle's Museum of History & Industry offers a penny for Lincoln's thoughts, transporting visitors inside his stovepipe-hatted head to decide for themselves whether the president made the right choices.
"This exhibit focuses on Lincoln, but constitutional questions are always going to land before a president," said Leonard Garfield, the museum's executive director. "The ways those questions get answered are the ways we as a country define freedom."
Some 140 years after Lincoln, President George W. Bush goes through the anxious exercise of balancing the weight of a national crisis against the protections provided by the Constitution. And the president who follows him in office undoubtedly will confront his or her own constitutional predicaments.
"Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" originates from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, with this the first West Coast showing. The exhibit features priceless copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery — both signed by Lincoln, as well as the stovepipe hat that Lincoln wore on the train ride to his first inauguration.
But the heart of the show is the contemplation of the choices Lincoln made to solidify the union and abolish slavery. An interactive feature asks visitors to be the judge for six Americans who were critical of Lincoln, and paid at least some price for it.
Lincoln, too, paid a price for those decisions, which were not always popular.
One part of the exhibit posits the question: "Must civil liberties give way to save the nation?"
"Lincoln wrestled with that question," Garfield said. "And we still debate it today."
Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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